Printer-controlled interlock

ABSTRACT

A fuel pump having a manually operable printer for recording each delivery of fuel and a printer-controlled interlock for preventing manually resetting the pump register for a succeeding delivery until the printer has been manually operated to record the prior delivery. After the register is reset the printer may be manually operated through a first phase of operation to provide an initial printout whereupon the register reset mechanism is locked to prevent resetting the register again until after the printer is manually operated through a second phase of operation to provide a final printout of the fuel delivery. A printer ticket tray is reciprocated in conjunction with the operation of the printer and a reciprocable slide is connected to latch the register reset mechanism when the ticket tray and slide are actuated to a forward position by the printer operating handle during its first phase of operation. The slide is releasably latched in its forward position and the slide latch is released by a printer platen as it moves to provide the final printout to provide for spring retraction of the slide for unlocking the register reset mechanism.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Silvio Conte East Hartford; Thomas W. Evans, Newington, both of, Conn. [21] Appl. No. 822,666 [22] Filed May 7, 1969 [45] Patented Aug. 17, 1971 [73] Assignee Veeder Industries Inc.

Hartford, Conn.

[54] PRINTER-CONTROLLED INTERLOCK 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

Primary Examiner-Harvey C. Hornsby Assistant ExaminerH. S. Lane Attorney-Prtrtzman, Hayes, Kalb & Chilton ABSTRACT: A fuel pump having a manually operable printer for recording each delivery of fuel and a printer-controlled interlock for preventing manually resetting the pump register for a succeeding delivery until the printer has been manually operated to record the prior delivery. After the register is reset the printer may be manually operated through a first phase of operation to provide an initial printout whereupon the register reset mechanism is locked to prevent resetting the register again until after the printer is manually operated through a second phase of operation to provide a final printout of the fuel delivery. A printer ticket tray is reciprocated in conjunction with the operation of the printer and a reciprocable slide is connected to latch the register reset mechanism when the ticket tray and slide are actuated to a forward position by the printer operating handle during its first phase of operation. The slide is releasably latched in its forward position and the slide latch is released by a printer platen as it moves to provide the final printout to provide for spring retraction of the slide for unlocking the register reset mechanism.

PATENTEDAUBIHQH 3.599.834

SHEET 1 {1F 2 INVENTORS SILVIO CONTE THOMAS W. EVANS ATTORNEYS PATENTED M181 7 #971 3. 599.834

sum 2 OF 2 IPIQINTER-(IONTROLLIED INTERLOQK BIRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a printer-controlled interlock having notable utility with fuel-dispensing apparatus (of the type having a printer for recording the monetary and/or volumetric amount of each fuel delivery) for preventing initiation of a fuel delivery until after the printer has been operated for recording the prior delivery of fuel.

It is a principal aim of the present invention to provide a new and improved printer-controlled interlock for such fueldispensing apparatus for appropriately sequencing the operation of the printer to record a prior fuel delivery and the initiation ofa succeeding delivery offuel.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide a new and improved printer-controlled interlock responsive to the operation of a printer of the type having a pivotal printing platen operable to provide a printout by being pivotally withdrawn and released. The printer-controlled interlock of the present invention has particular utility with a printer of the type (described in P. T. I-Ierbst U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,987 dated Oct. 3, 1967 and entitled Interlock for a Metering and Recording Unit") having a pivotal printing platen, a reciprocable ticket tray for retaining a ticket to be printed, and an operating handle manually rotatable through a first full revolution to actuate the ticket tray to an extended position and operate the printing platen to perform a first printout with the ticket tray in its extended position, and manually rotatable through a second full revolution to actuate the tray to a withdrawn position and operate the printing platen to perform a second printout with the tray in its withdrawn position.

It is a further aim of the present invention to provide a new and improved printer controlled interlock useful with commercially available fuel-dispensing apparatus.

It is another aim of the present invention to provide a new and improved printer-controlled interlock which provides for accurately signaling when the printer has been operated to provide a printout.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings of an illustrative application of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 11 is a partial side elevation view, partly broken away and partly in section, of a fuel-dispensing pump showing an embodiment of a printer-controlled interlock of the present invention interconnecting a printer and a register reset mechanism ofthe pump;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged partial plan section view, partly broken away and partly in section, of the printer and interlock; and

FIG. 3 is a partial side elevation section view, partly broken away and partly in section, taken substantially along line33 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings in detail, an embodiment of a printer-controlled interlock of the present invention is shown employed in a fuel-dispensing pump 8 for interconnecting a printer It) and a register 12 provided for registering the volume and cost amount of each delivery of fuel and which is shown having a register reset mechanism 114 of the type shown and described in H. N. Bliss U.S. Pat. No. 2,932,448 dated Apr. 12, 1960 and entitled Resetting Mechanism for Counters."

Briefly, the reset mechanism 14 which is shown may be manually operated in a conventional manner by a pair of handles (not shown) coupled to a control shaft and to a trip shaft 22 to which are affixed a control plate 24 and a trip pawl 26 respectively. A reset drive plate 28 is rotatably mounted on the control shaft 20 between the control plate 24 and a reset gear 30, and a reset spring 32 is connected to the reset drive plate 28 to provide for rotating the reset drive plate and reset gear 60, in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 11, for resetting the register. For this purpose there is provided a ratchet type mechanism which includes a ratchet wheel or notched plate 33 mounted on the reset gear 30 and a one-way drive pawl 34 pivotally mounted on the reset drive plate 28.

A latch pawl 35 is pivotally mounted on the reset drive plate 28 for cooperation with a shoulder 36 on the control plate 24, so that by manually rotating the control plate 24 approximately 60, in the counterclockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 11, from its normal position to its extended position shown in FIG. 1, the latch pawl 35 will cause similar rotation of the drive plate 28 against the bias of the reset spring 32. The control plate 24 and reset drive plate 28 are latched in such extended positions by the engagement of a latch pawl 37 with a tooth 38 on the control plate 24.

Conventionally the control plate 24 is manually rotated at the completion of each fuel delivery to load the reset spring 32 and, through suitable means (not shown) operated by the control shaft 20, to inactivate the fuel pump. Thereafter the register 112 may be reset by manually pivoting the trip pawl 26 against the bias of tension spring 44 to pivot latch pawl 34 and thereby release the reset drive plate 28, upon which occurrence the reset spring 32 will rotate the reset drive plate 2ft and reset gear 30, in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. I, to reset the register. The reset drive plate 28 upon reaching its clockwise position shown in FIG. 1, withdraws the latch pawl 37 to permit the control plate 24 and control shaft 20 to be manually rotated, in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1, to reactivate the fuel pump for the succeeding fuel delivery. Thus, the trip pawl 26 must be manually pivoted for resetting the register and for conditioning the pump for being manually reactivated for delivering fuel.

The above described exemplary reset mechanism is a typical commercial embodiment, and the interlock of the present invention could be employed with other types of reset mechanisms, for example with a modified reset mechanism of the type shown in G. W. Wright et a1. U.S. Pat. No. 3,044,662 dated July 17, 1962 and entitled Printer and Interlock Struc ture for Motor Fuel Dispenser."

The printer I0 is suitably connected to the register 12, as for example as disclosed in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,344,987, so that the printing counter 49 of the printer III is driven with the cost or volume counter (not shown) of the re gister 12 to provide a printed record of the cost or volume of the fuel dispensed.

An operating handle 50 of the printer is provided for actuat ing a reciprocable ticket tray 52 between its extended and withdrawn positions and for withdrawing a pivotal printing platen or hammer 54 against the bias of a suitable spring (not shown) and releasing the platen to provide a printout. The printer operating cycle has two phases with each phase being performed by one full revolution of the operating handle 50, in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 1, and during each phase of operation of the printer, the printing platen 54 is operated to provide a printout by the cooperative engagement ofa cam 56 on the handle shaft 58 and a cam follower or roller 60 on the platen 54.

Also, during the first phase of operation of the printer the ticket tray 52 is actuated, to the left as seen in FIG. I, to its forward or extended position shown in FIG. 1, prior to the release of the platen such that the initial printout on a ticket supported on the tray is at a first predetermined position on the ticket. During the second phase of operation of the printer the ticket tray is actuated, to the right as seen in FIG. I, to its rear or withdrawn position, again prior to the release of the platen 54 such that a second or final printout is placed on the ticket at a point spaced from the first printout. The actuation of the ticket tray to its forward and rear positions is manually performed with the printer-operating handle 50 through an eccentric 62 mounted on the handle shaft 58, a pivotal lever 64 having an opening receiving the eccentric 62, a depending drive link 66 pivotally mounted on the end of the lever 64- and pulled downwardly by a tension spring 63, and a combined camming and abutment edge 70 on the ticket tray 52.

Where the printer is to be used to provide a record of a fuel delivery, the initial printout is conventionally performed prior to the commencement of the fluid delivery but after the pump has been reactivated for delivering fuel (by manually rotating the control shaft 20 to its ON position or clockwise position as seen in FIG. l). The second and final printout is performed after the completion of the delivery such that the difference between the two printouts provides a record of the total (of the volume or cost, as the case may be) amount of the delivery. Also, the printing counter 49 may be resettable, in which case the second revolution of the handle 50 is used to reset the counter 49 (after the final printout is performed) in which case the following initial printout for recording the next delivery would be zero. Alternatively, the counter 49 may be nonresettable, in which case the amount of the delivery will be obtained by subtracting the first printed amount on the ticket from the second printed amount.

A printer-controlled interlock 80 in accordance with the present invention is operable by the printer during its first phase of operation to lock the trip pawl 26 in its withdrawn position to prevent resetting the register and reactivation of the fuel pump until the printer is operated through its second phase of operation to provide the final printout (and therefore to prevent recording an amount in excess of the actual amount of fuel delivered by for example, performing the final printout after the commencement of the succeeding delivery). For this purpose there is provided a pivotal latch 82 which is spring biased by a compression spring 84 tons latching position shown in FIG. 1. The latch 82 is adapted to be pivotally withdrawn to release the trip pawl 26 with a bowden wire 86 having its upper end connected toa depending strap 88 fixed to a slide 90 mounted for rectilinear reciprocable movement parallel to the rectilinear reciprocable movement of the ticket tray 52. A tension spring 92 interconnecting the slide 90 and printer frame biases the slide to the right as seen in FIG. 1 to its withdrawn or rear position in engagement with a roller 91 mounted on a fixed stud 93. When the tray 52 is actuated forwardly, to the left as seen in FIG. 1, during the first phase of operation of the printer, an abutment 89 on the tray 52 engages the slide 90 to move the slide forwardly actuating the bowden wire 86 to latch the trip pawl 26 in its withdrawn position as seen in FIG. 2.

Referring particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3, a latch 100 is pivotally mounted on the slide 90 for temporarily latching the slide in its forward position shown in the drawings. A light tension spring 102 provides for pivotally biasing the latch 100, in the clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3, so that its hook portion 104 hooks around the roller 91 to retain the slide 90 in its forward position as the ticket tray 52 is actuated rearwardly during the initial portion of the second phase of operation of the printer.

The latch 100 has an arm portion 108 engageable by a pin 110 on the platen 54 such that as the printer platen moves downwardly to perform a printout during the latter portion of the second phase of operation of the printer, the pin lilflwill engage the latch arm I08 and pivot the latch 100 downwardly to release the slide 90 to be returned by the tension spring 92 to its withdrawn position. As a result the latch 82 is pivoted by the bowden wire 86 to release the trip pawl 26.

Accordingly the interlock mechanism 80 provides for preventing manual reactivation of the fuel pump (with the trip pawl 26 and control shaft 20) until it is assured that the printer operating handle 50 has been rotated sufficiently to provide the final printout and not just sufficiently to actuate the ticket tray to its withdrawn position. Thus, in accordance with the present invention, if the printer is employed for recording a fuel delivery by operating the printer through its first phase of operation to provide an inrtia printout, the register may not thereafter be reset (for zeroizing the register for a subsequent delivery) until after the printer-operating handle has been rotated sufficiently to provide the final printout. The present invention accordingly ensures that the delivery record provided by the printer will not through inadvertence or dishonesty be made to exceed the actual delivery. Also, if the printer is not used to provide a record of a particular delivery and is not operated through its initial phase to provide the initial printout, the interlock remains passive to permit the pump register to be reset without requiring prior operation of the printer.

As will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, various modifications, adaptations and variations of the foregoing specific disclosure can be made without departing from the teachings of the present invention.

We claim:

1. In a fluid-dispensing system having manually operable control means for selectively deactivating the system between fluid deliveries and for reactivating the system for a succeeding fluid delivery, a printer for producing a printout of the amount of a fluid delivery having reciprocable printing hammer means operable upon movement in one direction to produce a printout and a manual printer operator for reciprocating the hammer means and manually operable through first and second successive phases of operation thereof for producing initial and final printouts respectively, and latching means interconnecting the printer and said manually operable control means and operable for latching the control means against reactivation of the fluid-dispensing system upon manual operation of the printer operator through its first phase of operation and until the printer operator is operated through its second phase of operation, the improvement wherein the latching means comprises a first releasable latch engageable for latching the control means against reactivation of the fluid-dispensing system and having a first reciprocable latch operator connected to the printer to be actuated to a first position for engaging the latch upon manual operation of the printer operator through its first phase of operation, and latch control means for holding the first latch engaged and operable by the hammer means as it moves in its said one direction to produce the final printout to release the first latch to permit manual reactivation of the fluiddispensing system with the manually operable control means.

2. In a fluid-dispensing system according to claim 1 wherein the latch control means comprises a second releasable latch for holding the first latch engaged and having a second reciprocable latch operator operable by the hammer means to release the second latch as the hammer means moves in said one direction to produce the final printout.

3. In a fluid-dispensing system according to claim I wherein the printer comprises a reciprocable ticket tray for supporting a ticket to be printed, wherein the ticket tray is connected to be actuated by the printer operator to initial and final print positions thereof during the first and second phases of operation of the printer operator and prior to the operation of the hammer means to provide the initial and final printouts respectively, and wherein the first latch operator is connected to be actuated to its first position upon actuation of the ticket tray to its initial position during the first phase of operation of the printer operator.

4. In a fluid-dispensing system according to claim 2 wherein the first releasable latch comprises spring means adapted, when the second latch is released, to actuate said first reciprocable latch operator from its said first position to release the first latch.

5. In a fluid-dispensing system according to claim 2 wherein the second releasable latch comprises a pivotal latch pivotal about a fixed axis and operable for latching the first latch operator in its said first position for holding the first latch engaged. 

1. In a fluid-dispensing system having manually operable control means for selectively deactivating the system between fluid deliveries and for reactivating the system for a succeeding fluid delivery, a printer for producing a printout of the amount of a fluid delivery having reciprocable printing hammer means operable upon movement in one direction to produce a printout and a manual printer operator for reciprocating the hammer means and manually operable through first and second successive phases of operation thereof for producing initial and final printouts respectively, and latching means interconnecting the printer and said manually operable control means and operable for latching the control means against reactivation of the fluid-dispensing system upon manual operation of the printer operator through its first phase of operation and until the printer operAtor is operated through its second phase of operation, the improvement wherein the latching means comprises a first releasable latch engageable for latching the control means against reactivation of the fluiddispensing system and having a first reciprocable latch operator connected to the printer to be actuated to a first position for engaging the latch upon manual operation of the printer operator through its first phase of operation, and latch control means for holding the first latch engaged and operable by the hammer means as it moves in its said one direction to produce the final printout to release the first latch to permit manual reactivation of the fluid-dispensing system with the manually operable control means.
 2. In a fluid-dispensing system according to claim 1 wherein the latch control means comprises a second releasable latch for holding the first latch engaged and having a second reciprocable latch operator operable by the hammer means to release the second latch as the hammer means moves in said one direction to produce the final printout.
 3. In a fluid-dispensing system according to claim 1 wherein the printer comprises a reciprocable ticket tray for supporting a ticket to be printed, wherein the ticket tray is connected to be actuated by the printer operator to initial and final print positions thereof during the first and second phases of operation of the printer operator and prior to the operation of the hammer means to provide the initial and final printouts respectively, and wherein the first latch operator is connected to be actuated to its first position upon actuation of the ticket tray to its initial position during the first phase of operation of the printer operator.
 4. In a fluid-dispensing system according to claim 2 wherein the first releasable latch comprises spring means adapted, when the second latch is released, to actuate said first reciprocable latch operator from its said first position to release the first latch.
 5. In a fluid-dispensing system according to claim 2 wherein the second releasable latch comprises a pivotal latch pivotal about a fixed axis and operable for latching the first latch operator in its said first position for holding the first latch engaged. 